A middle buffer coupling for rail-bound vehicles is particularly used for coupling individual railway carriages together which do not have a drive of their own. In this function, such a middle buffer coupling is also referred to as an intermediate coupling or a close coupling. In contrast to automatic railway couplings, mechanical intermediate or close couplings are manually coupled together via a suitable connecting element.
Electric currents and signals are also transmitted between the carriages that are coupled together. For this, connecting cables, also referred to as jumper cables, are usually used, which are to be inserted manually into connections attached to the carriages. As a comparatively large number of connecting cables is often required for the power and signal transmission, the manual insertion and removal of the connecting cables is laborious and time-consuming. In an emergency, e.g. in case of an accident, the connecting cables are often forcibly cut and destroyed by the rescue personnel, as a manual removal would be too time-consuming. It is further disadvantageous that the connecting cables known from prior art have to be housed in comparatively expensive protection sleeves to protect them from harsh environmental conditions.
An alternative solution is to provide a separate electrical coupling for the power and signal transmission in addition to the mechanical middle buffer coupling. Such a solution is described in DE 29 22 439 A1. Therein a mechanical middle buffer coupling is provided, the two coupling halves of which are connected together by a shell-type sleeve. Below the mechanical middle buffer coupling a support is positioned, on which a cable coupling is led. This known coupling system is comparatively complex as it comprises two separate couplings, i.e. an electrical and a mechanical coupling.
From DE 1 810 595 a middle buffer coupling is known. This middle buffer coupling comprises air lines or electrical lines which are led out of the respective coupling rod shortly behind a shell-type sleeve with which the coupling heads of the two coupling halves are connected together.
It is the object of the present invention to further develop a mechanical, manually operable middle buffer coupling such that it also allows the secure transmission of electrical currents and signals between the vehicle parts to be coupled together with minimal technical effort.
The present invention is directed to a middle buffer coupling for rail-bound vehicles comprising two coupling halves to be coupled together attached to respective vehicle parts. Each of the coupling halves comprises a coupling rod with a coupling head. The coupling also comprises a connecting element for manually connecting the two connecting heads. An electrical contact element is disposed at each coupling head for contacting with the contact element of the other respective coupling head when the two coupling laves are coupled. Each coupling rod is formed to be hollow and electrical lines are routed within each coupling rod such that the electrical lines are positioned completely within the respective coupling rod and lead from the contact elements of the associated coupling head to the vehicle part to which the coupling halves comprising said coupling rods are attached.